VesselVessel

Your games,
carried home.

NextSKYRIM SPECIAL EDITIONvia Mod Organizer 2

Vessel runs Windows games on Linux with their mod manager, script extender and trainer in one room. Choose how to play once; one press, and they leave together.

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Showcase build · tested so far with Skyrim Special Edition

What Vessel is

Vessel is a Linux launcher for Windows games. It gives each game its own room, a sandbox with one Proton prefix, and lets your mod manager, script extender and trainer board that same room, so they work together the way they do on Windows.

Why it exists.

Outside · Linux todayInside · with Vessel
Every game needs its own Wine prefix, made and kept by hand.Each game gets its own prefix and runner, set up for it.
A trainer started on its own cannot see the game’s process.Trainers join the game’s room and find the game, as on Windows.
A mod manager runs in another environment and loses track of the game.Mod Organizer 2, Vortex or any manager shares the game’s prefix and can start it.
One misbehaving tool can reach your whole home folder.Each room is a sandbox with a private home, and checkpoints roll its setup back.
A black window while Proton prepares: did it break?Vessel shows each part of the room come up, then gets out of the way.

FIND1 of 4

Every game finds its seat.

Find games looks through your folders for Windows games, or add any .exe yourself. Nothing is copied or changed on the way.

  • Scans ~/Games, Downloads and your Steam libraries, or one folder you pick
  • Never runs what it finds and never changes its files
  • Runs through Proton with UMU, system Wine, Lutris Wine or a runner you choose
The Vessel library, night theme: twelve games with their artwork, how each one starts, playtime and a Play button. Fallout 4 is running.
The real launcher, shown with a sample library.

ROOM2 of 4

One room for each game.

Each game gets its own sandbox: a private home, its own Proton or Wine prefix, and checkpoints to roll the room back. Nothing in it touches the rest of your system.

  • Private home, /tmp and process, IPC and network namespaces; your own files are not mounted
  • Online or offline, set per game
  • Shared Windows dependencies, such as a Visual C++ runtime, mounted read-only instead of copied
  • A checkpoint before each session; restore the setup and keep your saves
Skyrim Special Edition’s page in Vessel: its room strip, with Mod Organizer 2 chosen to start the game and a trainer set to open with it.
The real launcher, shown with a sample library.

BOARD3 of 4

The companions ride together.

A mod manager, a script extender, a trainer: each one runs inside the game’s room and can see the game, just as on Windows. Choose what starts the game and what opens beside it.

  • Every app has a kind: mod manager, script extender, trainer or utility
  • Mod managers and script extenders can start the game
  • Trainers and utilities attach to it, or open with it automatically
  • On Wayland, each app gets its own window
Fallout 4 running in Vessel, started through Mod Organizer 2, with its script extender listed beside it and a Stop room button.
The real launcher, shown with a sample library.

DEPART4 of 4

One press. Never a black screen.

Play starts exactly the setup you chose and shows each part come up, so a quiet minute while Proton prepares the room never looks like something broke.

  • Shows the room, the starter and each companion come up
  • A launch log for every game and every app
  • Playtime and sessions for each game
  • Stop room closes everything in it at once
The Vessel launch screen: the room’s blocks fill one by one while Skyrim Special Edition starts.
The real launcher, shown with a sample library.

Inside a room.

A room is one game’s sandbox. Everything you add to the game runs in it, in one Proton container, so the trainer can find the game and the mod manager can start it. What sits outside the walls stays out.

Outside, not mounted

  • Your home folder
  • Other games’ rooms
  • The launcher database
  • SSH agent and session D-Bus

Room · bubblewrap sandbox

Private home and /tmp · own PID, IPC and network namespaces · seccomp filter

Networkpasta, online · or none, offline

Proton container · one prefix

  1. Mod managerMod Organizer 2
  2. GameSkyrimSE.exe with SKSE
  3. TrainerFLiNG Trainer
  4. Windowswineserver
Read-onlyShared Windows dependencies

Four ways to ride.

Vanilla, with a trainer, modded, or modded with a trainer. Pick a route and Vessel says, in one sentence, exactly what Play will do.

  1. Room
  2. Mod Organizer 2
  3. Skyrim Special Edition
  4. FLiNG Trainer

Play opens Mod Organizer 2, which starts Skyrim Special Edition, then opens FLiNG Trainer.

Departures

GameStarts throughOpens with itStatus
SKYRIM SPECIAL EDITIONMod Organizer 2FLiNG TrainerTested
FALLOUT 4Mod Organizer 2F4SEShowcase
BALDUR’S GATE 3BG3 Mod Manager—Showcase
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNTThe gameScript MergerShowcase
CYBERPUNK 2077VortexTrainerShowcase
STARDEW VALLEYSMAPI—Showcase
FALLOUT: NEW VEGASMod Organizer 2NVSEShowcase
MOUNT & BLADE II: BANNERLORDVortex—Showcase

A showcase library. Only the first row has run end to end; the rest shows how a library looks, not tested support. Any game, mod manager or trainer is added the same way, by what kind of app it is.

What has actually run.

Vessel claims only what was run. This is the trip that was taken, on one machine, end to end.

System
Fedora, KDE Plasma on Wayland
Runner
GE-Proton 11-11 through UMU 1.4.4
Game
Skyrim Special Edition 1.7.104
Mod manager
Mod Organizer 2.5.2, its virtual file system loaded
Script extender
SKSE 2.3.1, started by Mod Organizer 2
Trainer
A standalone trainer, attached to the running game
Windows
Each app in its own window on the desktop

Everything aboard the Beta.

Finds your games
Scans folders for Windows games or imports any .exe.
One room per game
A bubblewrap sandbox with one Proton or Wine prefix.
Any companion app
Added by its kind, never by its name.
Play through
Start the game from a mod manager or script extender.
Opens with the game
Switch trainers and tools on to start beside it.
Online or offline
Network access chosen per room.
Shared dependencies
Windows runtimes imported once, mounted read-only.
Room recovery
Checkpoints that restore setup and keep saves.
Separate windows
One per app on Wayland, or one window for the room.
Display modes
Fullscreen, borderless or windowed in the one-window room.
Playtime
Every session timed, with two weeks of daily totals.
Launch logs
A log for every launch, readable in the launcher.
Finds your runners
UMU, Steam and Flatpak Proton, system and Lutris Wine.
Three themes
Milky, Night and Ashen, or follow your desktop.
Keyboard first
Search with /, move with arrows, play with Ctrl+Enter.
Local and open
A local SQLite library. Rust, Tauri, MIT.

Questions at the platform.

Do I need Steam?

No. Vessel runs a game’s Windows executable directly through Proton (with UMU) or Wine. Games that must be started by Steam itself, for DRM, are not routed through Steam yet.

Does it work with online games and anti-cheat?

Not claimed. Kernel anti-cheat is not supported. Vessel is built for single-player games and their mods.

Which mod managers and trainers work?

Any app is added by its kind: mod manager, script extender, trainer or utility. Mod Organizer 2, SKSE and a standalone trainer have been run with Skyrim Special Edition. Vortex, WeMod and others are added the same way but are not tested yet.

Will it change my game files?

Finding a game copies and changes nothing. Display mode and isolation are applied to the room, never by editing the game’s own settings. Your mod manager changes what it always changes.

Which Linux does it run on?

Any distribution. It is tested on Fedora with KDE Plasma on Wayland; secure rooms need a Wayland session to show a window.

Is it a full sandbox?

A room is a bubblewrap sandbox with private namespaces and a seccomp filter, not a virtual machine. The kernel, GPU and audio services are still shared.

Ride along when it leaves.

v0.1.0 Beta is on its way. Follow the releases to hear when the first packages for Fedora, Ubuntu and Debian are out, or build it tonight.

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